Assura Welcomes Lord Darzi's

RNS Number : 5538Y

Assura Group Limited

08 July 2008

Assura Group Limited

('Assura' or 'the Group' or 'the Company')

Assura Welcomes Lord Darzi's NHS Review

08 July 2008: Assura, one of the leading health care companies in the UK, welcomes the publication of the final report of Lord Darzi's NHS Next Stage Review, 'High Quality Care for All', and the Department of Health's vision for primary and community care. Assura is encouraged by the reform proposals contained within these documents and sees the proposals as a positive endorsement of Assura's business model.

Over the last few years, Assura has developed an integrated business model, working with GPs to provide local, high quality, out-patient, diagnostic and pharmacy services. As such, the Company has become one of the UK's leading primary and community care provider organisations with 15 partnerships with GPs ('GPCos') formed serving a population of 1.8m patients, supported by 34 pharmacies.

Specifically, Assura believes the Darzi and Department of Health strategies outlined:-

reiterate the Government's desire to embed choice and fair competition at the local level with an emphasis on GPs facilitating access to a wider and more integrated range of community-based services, such as out-patient appointments outside of hospital settings, diagnostics and minor procedures closer to home.
support the further integration of new and innovative community-based services, whereby service providers collaborate with one another, to offer a range of services operating from a single location or via a federated model.
recognise the merit in forging innovative partnerships with independent sector organisations to deliver services to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities.
aim to strengthen Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) and in time give PBC groups greater freedoms in managing resources and designing services.
emphasise that community pharmacists should play a greater role in providing primary care services, such as offering treatment for minor ailments.
encourage better estates strategies to be developed using the private sector where appropriate.

Commenting on the publication of Lord Darzi's review, Richard Burrell, CEO of Assura said: 'The reforms announced by Lord Darzi and the Department of Health endorse Assura's strategy and business model. Assura is committed to working with GPs, health professionals and Primary Care Trusts to offer patients a choice of local, high quality, community-based NHS services. We firmly believe that by building a portfolio of modern property assets capable of housing GPs and other health providers, locating our own pharmacies within these facilities and entering into collaborative joint ventures with GPs to provide out-patient and related medical services, we have positioned ourselves to become one of the leading providers of NHS services to NHS patients. We welcome these initiatives and see them as an important step in improving patient choice and service.'